Research Activity:

The main current research interest is the study of the climate system and Earth-System processes and interactions, with a specific focus on 1) the current and future evolution of the hydrological cycle and in particular precipitation in the mountain regions, and on 2) the Elevation-Dependent Warming, the mechanism by which high-altitude regions are experiencing more rapid and intense warming rates than the surrounding areas or the global mean. Recent studies have been mainly focused on the Italian Alps and the Hindu-Kush Karakoram Himalaya mountain chain in Asia.
These activities are performed through the analysis of both observations (in-situ, gridded datasets, satellite data) and data from global and regional climate models of various complexity.
Another topic is the use of climate downscaling methods, in particular a stochastic rainfall downscaling procedure called RainFARM as well as upscaling techniques. Climate downscaling allows to fill the scale gap between the coarse scale of the state-of-the-art global and even regional climate models and the small scales at which impacts on the ecosystems, hydrology and risks mostly act. The downscaling activities are performed in close collaboration with hydrological/impact modellers in the framework of several national and international projects or initiatives.
I have experience in the development and use of diagnostic tools to compare data from climate models and observations. In the past I developed and used radiative transfer models for the analysis of atmospheric trace gases measured by means of remote sensing techniques.

Interest areas
Study of the climate system, Earth System interactions and climate variability; particular focus on the hydrological cycle in the mountain environments.